Friday, June 10, 2011

Explanation of my Rugby League allegiences

For those of you that don't know I am originally from Brisbane, Australia (well I was actually born in Sydney but moved to Brisbane when I was about 4) and my favourite sport of all the sports that I follow is rugby league. It was the sports I played as a kid from the age of 7 and I still follow it very closely from Boston (I subscribe to livenrl.com to get the games and watch all the replays). When I was a kid there was no NRL and all the best teams were in Sydney. There was a Brisbane competition but it was considered second to the Sydney league and all the best players in the country went to Sydney because there was more money playing for those clubs. When I first started playing rugby league in grade 5 for my primary school our jerseys were the same design as the Cronulla Sharks so I decided that would be my team. I am still a Cronulla Sharks fan today (33 years!) and believe me it has not been easy. But I have stuck with them through the bads times and more bad times.

Then in 1988 the NSRL compettition decided to expand and included a team from Brisbane, the Brisbane Broncos. Now I was torn because I had been supporting Cronulla since I was a kid and now they had a team in my hometown and representing all of Queensland. The Broncos have been very successful and the whole city (and state) has rallied around them throughout the years. Various other teams from Queensland have come and gone without success (Crushers, Chargers, Seagulls). The in 1994 another Queensland team entered the competition, the North Queensland Cowboys and they remain a force today. In 2007 a Gold Coast team entered, the Gold Coast Titans.

So now in 2011 we have 3 teams from Queensland in the NRL. As a Queenslander we always like to see the NSW teams beat so I naturally support them. But I am a loyal fan and I can't give up my childhood team Cronulla Sharks, we have been through so much! Therefore this the order of my support, on any given day if one of these teams are playing they will have my support!